Still free to subscribe to this nearly daily newsletter! Greg Mitchell is author of fourteen books and director of five films for PBS since 2022. His latest film “Woody Guthrie and The Ghost of Tom Joad Today” is now streaming via PBS.
Groups sue Trump’s EPA over fast-track approval of toxic datacenter chemicals
Exposure to two compounds approved can result in ‘sudden death’ and range of other serious health risks, lawsuit warns
Wash Post on Trump illegally cutting down cherry trees in D.C. in favor of golf course:
An informal count Thursday found that more than 60 trees appeared to have been removed in recent weeks. Many were around the perimeter and parking lot, but others had been removed from playing corridors on the Blue, Red and White courses.
Sarah Kendzior:
I am most concerned with the structural integrity of the election. The US is the only country in world history in which sedition was countenanced by elected officials. If the Trump team tries again, they have legal precedent, thanks to the coup attempt of 2021 going unpunished in the Biden years.
Americans have become used to extreme corruption and threats of violence to civil servants. Some have started entertaining “Trump’s third term” as a normal prospect. As I’ve said, there is a great difference between expecting autocracy and accepting it. The examples of criminality and future constitutional violations I listed should be expected — but never accepted.
The GOP may use Trump’s old trick of running out the clock in order to determine the midterms. Results may be debated for so long that seats remain unfilled, legislation grinds to a halt, and Democrats drop out, Al Gore-style.
If the US were to have free and fair elections, I think the Democrats would do well: not because they are liked, but because the GOP is loathed. There is genuine excitement around Democratic candidates like Abdul El-Sayed. Unfortunately, those candidates are targeted by both the GOP and the Democratic establishment. I don’t know why half our election coverage seems to be about Twitch streamer Hasan Piker. This is a sign of a collapsed media and a political infrastructure hijacked by outside interests. That said, I do think Americans are invested in making their country a better place. I’m impressed by the steady protests and acts of solidarity with the vulnerable. I think these will continue no matter what the midterms bring.
Paul Krugman:
Tax evasion is now a very big concern. Reasonable estimates of the “tax gap” — taxes that individuals and businesses are legally obliged to pay, but don’t — are startlingly large — $600 billion a year or more – approximately 40% of the current budget deficit. Furthermore, much of this tax gap is surely accounted for by tax evasion by high-income Americans. So tax evasion is a significant contributor to both the rise of American oligarchy and the high federal debt.
Thus it is startling to realize that, except for a brief attempt to reduce the tax gap by the Biden administration, the U.S. government has over time reduced its efforts to ensure that the wealthy pay the taxes they owe. It’s clear that the purposeful reduction in the enforcement of the tax code for the wealthy is both a symptom as a well as a cause of America’s rising oligarchy. It is a key factor in America’s downward spiral into oligarchy, which is currently ravaging our politics and our democratic institutions.
Music Picks
Dolly may be gone but Emmylou Harris still out there, here from Friday night in the rain on farewell European tour with the great Steve Earle song, “Goodbye.”
Same night, David Byrne closed his Heads-spinning “Life During Wartime” with images of ICE rampages.
Before that at the Bowl, the USC marching band honored Dolly with “9 to 5.”
My latest film “Woody Guthrie and The Ghost of Tom Joad Today” is now streaming via PBS.org and all PBS apps and appearing on many PBS stations.
From Tunes to Toons
Barry Blitt:
Ann Telnaes quotes this and then illustrates outcome: "US faces surging toilet paper prices amid trade war with Canada” The Guardian reports.
de Adder:
MacKay
Wuerker:
Bagley:
Photo Finish
From my camera to you: “Paris Attic Bedroom”
Damn, but those cartoons make me sad. I wish that I could laugh at them. Buckle up, folks. It's going to get rough ahead!
The cartoonists have really been working overtime with these toons. They are so sad for us, but nevertheless true. The only answer is getting out and VOTING BLUE in every state, county, and congressional district this fall and in 2028. Then, maybe we’ll have smiles on our faces.